Apple's recently-minted Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio sold nearly $11 million worth of company stock this week in two separate sales, with a small portion of the gains going to a charitable donation.

First spotted by CNET, Riccio sold off 19,726 shares in two sales on Thursday and Friday, as well as another 1,000 shares given away as a charitable donation. At the current AAPL stock valuation, the total value of the shares sold was over $10.73 million.

None of the shares sold this week were part of the stock options Riccio received after being promoted in August alongside Apple's new SVP of Mac Software and Engineering Craig Federighi. Both executives were each awarded 75,000 shares of restricted stock, which at the time was worth well over $50 million. The first batch of 25,000 shares will vest in December 2013, with the remaining units vesting equally in April 2015 and August 2016.

Riccio recently took over for the outgoing Bob Mansfield and is now responsible for engineering all Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod lines. Mansfield quickly came out of retirement and returned to Apple, ultimately taking on the role of SVP of Technologies following former iOS chief Scott Forstall's ouster. Mansfield is said to have netted a a two-year agreement worth $2 million a month.

Apple is so damn classy. This is a huge dip, a huge buying opportunity for AAPL, but this is when Apple execs decide to take some profit. Compare to Google, where several of their top executives took profit at it's recent outrageous peak, just before they were going to deliver their crappy earning's report, after which their stock dove 9%. It amazes me that Apple continues to suffer so badly with their PR. Their hands off approach is clearly not working.

Apple is so damn classy. This is a huge dip, a huge buying opportunity for AAPL, but this is when Apple execs decide to take some profit. Compare to Google, where several of their top executives took profit at it's recent outrageous peak, just before they were going to deliver their crappy earning's report, after which their stock dove 9%. It amazes me that Apple continues to suffer so badly with their PR. Their hands off approach is clearly not working.

Hmm... I'm not sure what's classy about selling when a stock is low. I am under the impression sales are happening now because 1) the capital gains tax is going up, and 2) stocks tend to dip before the end of the calendar year.

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Hmm... I'm not sure what's classy about selling when a stock is low. I am under the impression sales are happening now because 1) the capital gains tax is going up....

I am not sure how that factors into the decision to sell if insiders truly believed that the stock is undervalued by 5% or more (which is the amount that the capital gains tax rate is expected to go up).

Explain?

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

I am not sure how that factors into the decision to sell if insiders truly believed that the stock is undervalued by 5% or more (which is the amount that the capital gains tax rate is expected to go up).

Explain?

Whether something is considered under or overvalued is irrelevant it whether the seller thinks it's going to go down within a set amount for a set timeframe. If he thinks it will keep dropping before the end of the year and he wants to sell before the ned of the year then why wouldn't now be the best time to sell?

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Whether something is considered under or overvalued is irrelevant it whether the seller thinks it's going to go down within a set amount for a set timeframe. If he thinks it will keep dropping before the end of the year and he wants to sell before the ned of the year then why wouldn't now be the best time to sell?

There are only two 'time frames', given your argument: between now and the end of the year (by when you think taxes might go up), or after that.

Let's first focus on between now and the end of the year: if your hypothesis is true, then this should be signaling that insiders expect a further short term decline in Apple stock. If the market truly though that, it would be considered VERY bad news, and the stock would sink further. I doubt very much that this could possibly be true, given Apple's fundamentals. And I doubt that this is what you intend to mean: that AAPL has further to fall.

Focusing next on the period after the end of the year, suppose capital gains rate went up, which would be by 5%. If a key insider such as Riccio thought that Apple is worth at least, say, 10% more than its price today, he would be better off selling when that price was realized (assuming that happens within some reasonable time frame) and paying 20% in taxes on his gains, rather than the 15% on gains at the current price. No?

So I am failing to see your argument.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

There are only two 'time frames', given your argument: between now and the end of the year (by when you think taxes might go up), or after that.
Let's first focus on between now and the end of the year: if your hypothesis is true, then this should be signaling that insiders expect a further short term decline in Apple stock. If the market truly though that, it would be considered VERY bad news, and the stock would sink further. I doubt very much that this could possibly be true, given Apple's fundamentals. And I doubt that this is what you intend to mean: that AAPL has further to fall.
Focusing next on the period after the end of the year, suppose capital gains rate went up, which would be by 5%. If a key insider such as Riccio thought that Apple is worth at least, say, 10% more than its price today, he would be better off selling when that price was realized (assuming that happens within some reasonable time frame) and paying 20% in taxes on his gains, rather than the 15% on gains at the current price. No?
So I am failing to see your argument.

1) Yes, it is possible for AAPL to continue to fall.

2) Regardless or whether you or I think it will continue to fall is irrelevant to whether it will or will not, or more importantly, if Riccio thinks it will or will not.

3) He may just want the money for something. Perhaps he has a short term investment he wants to get in on and sell before the end of the year so it also has lower taxes.

4) You keep assuming that Apple's stock is at some unfathomable low that will shoot up. There is no guarantee of that and there is no guarantee that Riccio thinks what you think.

5) My argument is simple, of all the reasons to want to sell now the most likely I've read is that he sold it for less than he knew he could have in the short run intentionally to make less money because he's being classy.

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Hmm... I'm not sure what's classy about selling when a stock is low. I am under the impression sales are happening now because 1) the capital gains tax is going up, and 2) stocks tend to dip before the end of the calendar year.

One thing I've always been curious about is why Jony Ive doesn't have to disclose any of his stock grants or sales. I'm assuming his stock grants, salary etc. are similar to what the other SVP's receive so not sure why it's never disclosed.Edited by Rogifan - 11/17/12 at 6:15am

One thing I've always been curious about is why Jony Ive doesn't have to disclose any of his stock grants or sales. I'm assuming his stock grants, salary etc. are similar to what the other SVP's receive so not sure why it's never disclosed.

I think it was because of his title at the company but he's apparently been an SVP since 1997 so I guess that isn't it.

I was just looking over his Wikipedia page. I had never read it before. Good stuff.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

Apple's recently-minted Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio sold nearly $11 million worth of company stock this week in two separate sales, with a small portion of the gains going to a charitable donation.

At least he's keeping plenty to be able to afford a new toupee.

He still looks like he carries knives though and he'll likely use them if you mention his toupee.

It would be nice to see what these guys do in a given day besides arguing with Forstall. Are they putting in 90 hour weeks or just making the important decisions? We are always under the impression that these people are the most important people at Apple but the engineeres, designers, artists etc are really the important ones. Managers are nothing without talent beneath them. What was Mansfield doing on his own that was so important that is needs $2m/month? I'll have a go at it for $1m/month. If they aren't happy after a month, they can stick with Mansfield.

One thing I've always been curious about is why Jony Ive doesn't have to disclose any of his stock grants or sales. I'm assuming his stock grants, salary etc. are similar to what the other SVP's receive so not sure why it's never disclosed.

I think it was because of his title at the company but he's apparently been an SVP since 1997 so I guess that isn't it.
I was just looking over his Wikipedia page. I had never read it before. Good stuff.

He first showed up on Apple's executive leadership page in April 2006. This was after Jon Rubinstein left. Apple announced that Tony Fadell was taking over the iPod division but never announced Ive's promotion. I'm assuming that's when he got the title bump, although I have heard he worked directly for Jobs even before Rubinstein left.

I have no idea what to think about Apple's stock anymore, used to believe that there's no way in hell it would drop below $550. My assumptions are all shattered now, and I've given up on making any more predidctions. Anything is possible, and the stock market does not follow any rules of rationality. Regardless of the superficial media negativity lately, It's safe to say that Apple's fundamentals are the best they've ever been in the company's history, both in terms of product line strength, quality, breadth, marketshare, revenue, profit, consumer satisfaction, etc. All indications are that surface is a flop out of the gate, and Windows 8 will have a ton of adoption issues. Google is google, but they still don't have near a cohesive consumer and developer platform that Apple does. Apple is still in the strongest position in the industry, and looks to get stronger. It's still the only company I would bet on for future growth and success, and the stock price is definitely not a reflection of that right now.

I have no idea what to think about Apple's stock anymore, used to believe that there's no way in hell it would drop below $550. My assumptions are all shattered now, and I've given up on making any more predidctions. Anything is possible, and the stock market does not follow any rules of rationality. Regardless of the superficial media negativity lately, It's safe to say that Apple's fundamentals are the best they've ever been in the company's history, both in terms of product line strength, quality, breadth, marketshare, revenue, profit, consumer satisfaction, etc. All indications are that surface is a flop out of the gate, and Windows 8 will have a ton of adoption issues. Google is google, but they still don't have near a cohesive consumer and developer platform that Apple does. Apple is still in the strongest position in the industry, and looks to get stronger. It's still the only company I would bet on for future growth and success, and the stock price is definitely not a reflection of that right now.

Patience is a virtue.

And now that you're invested in it, forget about it (until such time you need the money -- then you can worry if it's still at this level).

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Originally Posted by Slurpy
Anything is possible, and the stock market does not follow any rules of rationality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

Now you're getting it!

In the short-term, yes.

Couldn't disagree more vehemently about the market in the long-term. Most liquid stocks such as AAPL trade in reasonably efficient -- in the sense of price reflecting intrinsic worth -- markets in the longer haul.* (I am not saying that you should agree with me, but if you don't, then you surely shouldn't be in the market?)

*By 'long term' and 'longer haul,' I don't mean a horizon that requires you to be dead.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Hmm....seems a little odd that he hasn't had any insider transactions since 2009. Also if you look at Apple's SEC filings, on Nov 4, 2011 you see RSU grants of 150K for all SVP's at that time except Ive. I'm curious what would require Apple to have to disclose this info for everyone but Ive. Unles he didn't receive a grant like the rest, but I find that hard to believe.

Hmm... I'm not sure what's classy about selling when a stock is low. I am under the impression sales are happening now because 1) the capital gains tax is going up, and 2) stocks tend to dip before the end of the calendar year.

If this was a cashless exercise of options, the proceeds would likely be taxed as regular income, not capital gains. Anyone think the top marginals won't go up by 5% in 2013?

Well let's see, $2 million a month salary...that means for every HOUR on the job Mansfield is being paid $12,500. Hard to believe there's nobody qualified to take that position at a less extravagant salary.

Well let's see, $2 million a month salary...that means for every HOUR on the job Mansfield is being paid $12,500. Hard to believe there's nobody qualified to take that position at a less extravagant salary.

And, you're the one to decide that it's 'extravagant'?

Compared to what? Your job and salary?

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).